How to Make Indian Ink

Laura Reynolds

India ink, also called Indian or Chinese ink, is a simple mixture used for centuries by calligraphers and artists who needed a medium that can be used like a water color for writing and drawing. India ink was made by the Chinese in the third century using burned bones and tar pitch. The Japanese perfected the art of Sumi-e, a wash painting process using only black ink on white paper. For a long period of time lamp black, the soot left in oil lamps, was combined with charred pine and other woods as the base for the mixture. Although you can buy India Ink at art supply houses, you may want to make your own to use for water color and other art.

Chinese Ink provides detail and background in this Japanese watercolor

Step 1

Harvest your carbon by using a brush to sweep carbon black fragments of completely charred charcoal into a stone or porcelain dish. Or, if you have hurricane or oil lamps, harvest the lampblack.

Step 2

Pulverize the carbon in the dish using a ceramic or metal pestal. You should end up with a very fine dust that leaves a light coating when blown off the surface of a piece of paper. Place the dust in a ceramic or other hard-surfaced, non-metallic bowl.

Step 3

Add a cup of distilled water and stir your ink with a popsicle stick until it forms a thick, soupy wash. More carbon will produce a blacker ink and less will produce a lighter ink. Since you can dilute ink when you are ready to use it, keep your solution as thick as possible as you mix it.

Step 4

Mix in a teaspoon of sieved shellac or ground shellac flakes to your ink, which acts as a carrier so that the ink can be loaded onto a brush or pen.

Step 5

Store your India ink in an airtight bottle or let it dry into cakes to use with calligraphy or artist's brushes. Ink will get stale due to the organic nature of the carriers, so use your liquid ink within a month or so of the date in which you make it. Dry and cake ink tends to last longer. Store-bought ink has preservatives to prolong the life of the ink.